New issue divides abutters, gun club

New York Times, Boston Edition ^ | Kocian

[pabianice]

Medfield, MA ... A rift has developed among Medfield neighbors who have been complaining about noise from the Westwood Gun Club over the past year.

Last fall, Wood End Lane residents negotiated an unwritten compromise with club president Joe McGinnis, who agreed to replace and expand a small wetlands area that the club encroached on about a year ago when a 200-yard shooting range was restored. McGinnis also agreed to install a foam baffle intended to block most of the noise from a different, 300-yard range, also recently restored.

The club also agreed to drop a trespassing charge against one of the neighbors Bruce Redfield, who is also a member of the Conservation Commission.

In exchange, residents agreed to put aside their complaints before town boards and a formal disturbance-of-the-peace charge filed in court.

But some of the original negotiators of the compromise said they were surprised by a letter, written by Redfield and others, that was sent to the Conservation Commission last month and dredged up several concerns about the wetlands damage - creating the appearance that the deal had been breached.

Paul Rainey, an abutter and one of three Wood End Lane residents who negotiated the original compromise, said he was upset when he heard the letter read.

''I realized this could jeopardize what we had agreed to,'' he said.

[pabianice]

Boston Yuppie gun-grabbers go back on their deal with the gun club. I'm shocked! SHOCKED!

Contact Information:

Medfield Board of Selectmen

Osler L. Peterson, Chairman

Ann B. Thompson, Clerk

Paul B. Rhuda

Administrative Assistant

Evelyn Clarke

Phone: (508) 359-8505 x642

email: boardofselectmen@medfield.net

Medfield Conservation Committee

Steve Connors, co-chair

connorsr@mit.edu

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[jdege]

He moved next door to a gun range, and now he thinks the noise is too loud?

[coloradan]

"... and they ban suppressors, calling them "silencers" and then they try to ban firing ranges because they are too loud, and they ban steel-core ammo as "cop-killer bullets" and then try to shut down ranges because of lead contamination. ... " - Unintended Consequences (paraphrased)

[coloradan]

More gun grabbing in the People's State of Taxachussetts.

[annyokie]

No kidding. It reminds of the morons in San Diego who bitched about the noise from NAS Miramar and the air traffic to Lindhburg (sp?) Field, when they bought homes directly in their flight paths.

[Gorzaloon]

He moved next door to a gun range, and now he thinks the noise is too loud?

Sure. They move in, knowing a feature is in the neigborhood, being certain if they shreik loud enough, they will change it after the fact. And of course, this is Massachusetts.

1: Mansfield Municipal Airport (1B9). Yuppie moved in, knowing it was there for decades, screamed until they had to make us turn 45 left @400' on departure to avoid the "noise sensitive area".

2: Ames Rifle and Pistol Club, been around a hundred years. New Yuppie neighbor called police to report bullets falling onto his roof. Police investigated, found, in the gutters and on the roof, UNFIRED, ASSEMBLED AMMUNITION where they had been apparantly thrown. No charges were filed. This time.

See, if you are "Right", and on the correct side of the issue, and live as the (spit) Boston Globe/NYT tell you, you are immune from consequences.

[Mears]

It's great to see two affluent suburbs going at eachother,isn't it?

What a NIMBY world it is.

[ARCADIA]

I can still remember when wetlands were mosquito infested swamps. Perhaps if we still called them swamps, people would still be in favor of developing them.

[Rodney King]

No kidding. It reminds of the morons in San Diego who bitched about the noise from NAS Miramar and the air traffic to Lindhburg (sp?) Field, when they bought homes directly in their flight paths.

It's a great investment strategy really. Someone sells you their house at a low rate due to noise. You move in and use the government to shut down the noise. Instant profit. Another group of people who does something equivalent are the people who buy land in rural areas of Alaska and other states and then demand that the government subsidize their telephone and other services.

[Gorzaloon]

I can still remember when wetlands were mosquito infested swamps. Perhaps if we still called them swamps, people would still be in favor of developing them.

With the West Nile Virus on the loose, they had damned well better start calling them "Swamps" again, rather than Mosquito Conservation Areas!

Save the Humble Mosquito! I can see the demonstrators' signs now.

[annyokie]

Right you are. If I were the owner of the gun range, I would sue the state of Maine for loss of revenue and force them to build me some concrete lanes in my new indoor range. /sarcasm off

[annyokie]

Maine/Massachussetts. Sorry

[demosthenes the elder]

unintended my eye!

[demosthenes the elder]

or, here in GA, folks who retire from Atlanta, move onto land next to extant animal farms, and try to get the farmland rezoned because of the "unbearable stench"

[demosthenes the elder]

seen Lilo&Stitch yet?

[Alain2112]

In the People's Republic, encroaching on a wetland is a worser crime than killing your wife and slicing her into squishy little bits. That range owner had better watch his step.

[dighton]

2: Ames Rifle and Pistol Club, been around a hundred years. New Yuppie neighbor called police to report bullets falling onto his roof. Police investigated, found, in the gutters and on the roof, UNFIRED, ASSEMBLED AMMUNITION where they had been apparently thrown. No charges were filed. This time.

!!!!!!!!

[GladesGuru]

Unfired ammo was the finding when an opponent filed a complaint against the range??

Where's the range's attorney? This is clearly a case of filing a complaint tainted with tampered evidence. Time for a counter suit.

[Travis McGee]

Unfired ammo! Nice try! LOL!